The Signal

The Signal | Unmasking Moms for Liberty’s Extremism, with Media Matters’s Olivia Little and Bucks County’s Diana Leygerman

“Lots of normal people, it’s great.” That's a direct quote from Bucks County Moms for Liberty member and Northampton Township GOP committee member Megan Brock celebrating the so-called normalcy of the right-wing culture warrior moms at the summit in Philadelphia.
So what is this "new normal" for Brock and the Moms for Liberty Qlan that she is part of? Today we welcome two guests to the show to dig into the Moms for Liberty summit and their continued impact on our school boards and communities.
On the first half of the show we'll talk to Olivia Little, a writer and researcher with Media Matters who was undercover inside the group’s summit in Philadelphia. On the second half we are joined by Diana Leygerman, a writer, teacher, and Central Bucks School District Mom who refuses to co-parent with Moms for Liberty.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Moms for Liberty’s Extremism
The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, by Katherine Stewart
Sisters in Hate: American Women and White Extremism, by Seyward Darby
The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, by Jeff Sharlet
Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization, by Maurice Cunningham
A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School, by Jennifer Berkshire
ORGANIZATIONS
Advocates for Inclusive Education (Bucks County)
Central Bucks Neighbors United
The Network for Public Education
ALSO LISTEN TO: 
EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham
EPISODE 6 - The Right’s Long War On Public Education, With Jennifer Berkshire
EPISODE 7 - Understanding Backlash Politics And Religious Conservatives Inciting School Board Wars, With PRRI’s Melissa Deckman
ARTICLES
Inside Moms for Liberty’s summit: Big money and even bigger conspiracy theories, by Olivia Little
Astroturfing in Central Bucks School District: Moms for Liberty and Book Bans, by Diana Leygerman
At The Moms For Liberty Summit, Comprehensive Sexual Education Is CRT And Sexualization Of Children, by Pat LaMarche
As Moms For Liberty Meets In Philadelphia, Don’t Underestimate Their Extremism And The Threat They Pose, by Peter Greene
At Moms for Liberty Summit ‘Mama Bears’ Declare Spiritual War on the ‘Radical Left’, by Annika Brockschmidt
“On brand and dangerous”: Moms for Liberty platforming extremists shows "just how radical” group is, by Areeba Shah
Moms For Liberty Bucks County Leaders Think Public Schools Are Trying To Bring Pedophilia Into The Classrooms, by Cyril Mychaleko
It Takes A Village: Expelling Right-Wing Extremism From Bucks County School Districts, by Cyril Mychalejko
Pulling Back The Curtain On The Leadership Institute’s Dominion Over Moms For Liberty, by Maurice Cunningham 
To Understand Groups Like Moms For Liberty And The Republican Party’s MAGA Base, Look To The John Birch Society, by Dr. Michael Gambone
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | Raising a Transgender Child in an Increasingly Transphobic Country, with Brett Freeman

Brett Freeman (He/Him) is a resident of Buckingham Township (in Bucks County, PA), a parent, a husband, a foodie, and an avid Philadelphia sports fan.  He is also a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh (1994) and The Wharton Management Program (1997) at the University of Pennsylvania. Currently, he is a state certified residential real estate appraiser and valuation expert, and actively practices regionally throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.  Beginning this year, he also serves on the DEI Committee for the Greater Philadelphia Board of Realtors. 
Today we speak with Brett about what it’s like raising a transgender child in an increasingly transphobic country, and specifically his experiences in Bucks County’s Central Bucks School District. 
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue
Melissa, by Alex Gino
Helping Your Transgender Teen: A Guide for Parents, by Irwin Krieger 
Transgender History, by Susan Stryker
Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, by Dean Spade
The Stonewall Reader, edited by the New York Public Library
ARTICLES
I’m a trans teen in Central Bucks. Here, it doesn’t ‘get better.’, by Lily Freeman
As A Mom Of A Central Bucks School District LGBTQ Student, There Is Systemic Discrimination Against Her, by Mindy Freeman
‘Books Save Lives’: Bucks County Mom Tells Congress Why Book Banning Must Stop, by Mindy Freeman
PFLAG Bucks County Leads With Love In Supporting The Local LGBTQ+ Community, by Rachel Fitzpatrick and Jessica Dziobecki
Anti-LGBTQ Hate, Threats, And Violence Are On The Rise This Pride Month, by Catherine Caruso
Pride In Peril: Reflections on the Anti-LGBTQ+ Panic, by Daniel Parker
LGBTQ+ Youth Must Protest For Pride Like Their Lives Depend On It, by Leo Burchell
ORGANIZATIONS
PFLAG
Central Bucks Neighbors United
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | Feminicide, Impunity, and the United States in Guatemala, with Victoria Sanford

Victoria Sanford is a John Simon Guggenheim Fellow and Professor of Anthropology at City University of New York. She has given expert testimony on the Guatemalan genocide in international courts and authored seven books, including Buried Secrets: Truth and Human Rights in Guatemala, and most recently, Textures of Terror: The Murder of Claudina Isabel Velasquez and Her Father's Quest for Justice, which was just published in May. I speak with Victoria about her new book, the U.S.'s bloody history in Guatemala, and the endemic of feminicide and impunity in this Central American nation.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Guatemala (in addition to Victoria’s books)
Guatemala: Never Again, by Recovery of Historical Memory Project (REMHI) Human Rights Office, Archdiocese of Guatemala
I, Rigoberta Menchú, by Rigoberta Menchú
Bitter Fruit: The Story of the American Coup in Guatemala, by Stephen Kinzer
War by Other Means: Aftermath in Post-Genocide Guatemala, edited by Carlota McAllister, Diane M. Nelson
Paper Cadavers: The Archives of Dictatorship in Guatemala, by Kirsten Weld
ALSO LISTEN TO:
EPISODE 1 – Immigrant Solidarity: From Bucks County to the Border with Sue-Ann DiVito
ARTICLES
The Dark Truth Behind Migration through a Father’s Quest for Justice, by Victoria Sanford
Guatemalan Femicide: The Legacy of Repression and Injustice, by Cyril Mychalejko
ORGANIZATIONS
Immigrant Rights Action (Bucks County)
Rights Action
Guatemalan Human Rights Commission
NISGUA (The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala)
WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America)
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | Students and Teachers Fight Back Against Book Banning in Central York, with Christina Ellis and Ben Hodge

Today host Cyril Mychalejko talks to Christina Ellis and Ben Hodge about how and why students and teachers must organize and mobilize themselves and the larger community to resist book bans and other reactionary right-wing assaults on public education. 
Christina Ellis is an 18-year-old African-Caribbean American college student and activist. She was the former vice-president of Central York High School’s Panther Anti-Racist Union student club, better known as PARU. She and PARU worked together to reverse a book ban that the Central York School District placed on books/resources that promoted diversity and inclusion. While at Central York High School, she helped organize a peaceful protest that advocated reversing the ban. Christina and others continue to educate students and the public on the importance of diversity education and inclusion within her community. She is now at university working towards a career in medicine and will continue to advocate for minorities in medicine.
Ben Hodge is the founder and faculty advisor of the Panther Anti-Racist Union. A 20-year veteran of the classroom, he teaches Acting classes at Central York High School and serves as the Artistic Director for the Central York Performing Arts program. Ben is passionate about the acting profession and enjoys training and mentoring young actors, and teaching them to take control of their everyday lives through theater. A staunch advocate of the Diversity programming in the Central York School District since 2006, he has focused primarily on diversity education, mediation, and social-emotional awareness. After the murder of George Floyd, he wanted to create a safe space where students could come together and have meaningful discussions around social justice initiatives outside of their regular classes. This is how the Panther Anti-Racist Union was born. 
The Signal is a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon. Twice a month we will use this space to shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. We will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Reading Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue:
Teachers, Students and the Central York Community Defeated a Racist Book Ban in Their School District, by Cyril Mychalejko
Why Diversity in Education Matters, by Christina Ellis
Q&A with Central York Student Organizer Edha Gupta, by Cyril Mychalejko
Central York High Schoolers Protest Book Bans (Again). Here’s What They Have to Say, by Kelly Jensen
It Takes A Village: Expelling Right-Wing Extremism From Bucks County School Districts, by Cyril Mychalejko
ALSO LISTEN TO:
EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham
EPISODE 6 - The Right’s Long War On Public Education, With Jennifer Berkshire
EPISODE 7 - Understanding Backlash Politics And Religious Conservatives Inciting School Board Wars, With PRRI’s Melissa Deckman
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | Understanding Backlash Politics and Religious Conservatives Inciting School Board Wars, with PRRI’s Melissa Deckman

Melissa Deckman, Ph.D., is the CEO of Public Religion Research Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and public policy. Her first book, School Board Battles: The Christian Right in Local Politics, won the American Political Science Association’s Hu Morken Award for best book on religion and politics. Melissa is also author of Tea Party Women, which examines the role of women in conservative politics and co-author of  Women and Politics, a top-selling textbook on gender politics in the United States.
Deckman's commentary and research about politics has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN, The Hill, Vice News, The Wall Street Journal, 538, and Politico, among other outlets. Prior to her appointment as PRRI’s CEO, Deckman was the Louis L. Goldstein Professor of Public Affairs and chair of the Political Science Department at Washington College, where she taught courses on American politics, women and politics, religion and politics, research methods, and state and local politics.
Melissa and I talk about the ideology and worldview conservative activist parents are promoting, and how if you cut through the noise they are making you realize they are in the minority. 
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Today’s War on Public Education in America
The Power Worshippers: Inside the Dangerous Rise of Religious Nationalism, by Katherine Stewart
Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization, by Maurice Cunningham
A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School, by Jennifer Berkshire
Jesus and John Wayne: How White Evangelicals Corrupted a Faith and Fractured a Nation, by Kristin Kobes Du Mez
From the New Deal to the War on Schools: Race, Inequality, and the Rise of the Punitive Education State, by Daniel S. Moak
ALSO LISTEN TO:
EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham
EPISODE 6 - The Right’s Long War On Public Education, With Jennifer Berkshire
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | The Right’s Long War on Public Education, with Jennifer Berkshire

Jennifer Berkshire writes about the intersection of education and politics for the Nation, the New Republic, the New York Times, and other publications. She is the creator and co-host of the education policy podcast Have You Heard, and the co-author of A Wolf at the Schoolhouse Door: The Dismantling of Public Education and the Future of School. Jennifer teaches in the journalism program at Boston College and in the Education Studies program at Yale University. Her next book, The Education Wars: A Citizen’s Guide and Defense Manual, will be out in 2024. Today we speak to her about the Right’s Long War on Public Education and how to fight back and win!
The Signal is a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon. Twice a month we will use this space to shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. We will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on Public Education in America
Dark Money and the Politics of School Privatization, by Maurice Cunningham
Left Back: A Century of Battles over School Reform, by Diane Ravitch
Whose America?: Culture Wars in the Public Schools, by Jonathan Zimmerman
Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom, by bell hooks
 The Teachers,  by Alexandra Robbins
LISTEN TO EPISODE 2 - The Merchants of Deception: The Dark Money and Front Groups Behind School Privatization, with Maurice Cunningham
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | The Growing Fascist Threat to American Democracy, with Jeff Sharlet

On this episode, Bucks County Beacon Editor Cyril Mychalejko welcomes Jeff Sharlet to the show. Jeff (@JeffSharlet) is the bestselling author or editor of eight books, including The Family, made into a Netflix documentary series. He's the Frederick Sessions Beebe '35 Professor in the Art of Writing at Dartmouth College and a contributing editor to Vanity Fair. His newest book is The Undertow: Scenes from a Slow Civil War, described by The New York Times as "riveting" and The Washington Post as "journalism-as-art." Today we talk about his new book and the growing fascist threat to American democracy. 
The Signal is a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon, I’m your host and the Beacon’s editor in chief Cyril Mychalejko. Twice a month we will use this space to shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. We will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue (in addition to Jeff’s new book)
How Fascism Works: The Politics of Us and Them, by Jason Stanley
Saving History: How White Evangelicals Tour the Nation's Capital and Redeem a Christian America, by Lauren R. Kerby
The Flag and The Cross: White Christian Nationalism and the Threat to American Democracy, by Philip S. Gorski, Samuel L. Perry
A Field Guide to White Supremacy, by Kathleen Belew and Ramon A. Gutierrez (editors)
No Pasarán! Antifascist Dispatches from a World in Crisis, by Shane Burley (editor)
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress

The Signal | Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire, with Dr. Kate Connelly

On this episode, Cyril welcomes Dr. Kate Conelly to the show. Kate is a writer, historian and activist. She is a biographer of Sylvia Pankhurst, her book Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire was published by Pluto Press in 2013. In 2019 she edited and introduced Pankhurst's previously unpublished manuscript about her suffrage lecture tours in North America, now published under the title A Suffragette in America: Reflections on Prisoners, Pickets and Political Change.
Kate is currently researching the links between labour movement activists in the USA and Pankhurst's organization, the East London Federation of Suffragettes. Twenty years ago, Kate was one of the leaders of the school strikes against the war on Iraq. She has been a campaigner ever since. She is a member of the socialist organization, Counterfire, and contributes regularly to its website. Kate works as a lecturer at the London centers of several U.S.-based universities, including Aradia University near Philadelphia."
The Signal is a podcast by The Bucks County Beacon. Twice a month we will use this space to shine a light on the right-wing extremist currents streaming though Bucks County and beyond. We will talk to guests who will help listeners navigate these perilous political waters by providing insight, analysis, and organizing solutions so that we can steer the community toward calmer, saner progressive routes.
Host Cyril Mychalejko’s 5 Book Recommendations to Further Shine a Light on the Issue
Sylvia Pankhurst: Suffragette Socialist and Scourge of Empire, by Katherine Connelly
A Suffragette in America: Reflections on Prisoners, Pickets and Political Change, by Sylvia Pankhurst and edited by Katherine Connelly
Rebel Crossings New Women, Free Lovers, and Radicals in Britain and the United States, by Sheila Rowbotham
Red Valkyries: Feminist Lessons From Five Revolutionary Women, by Kristen Ghodsee
Feminism for the 99%: A Manifesto, by Cinzia Arruzza, Tithi Bhattacharya, and Nancy Fraser
Additional Resources: 
International Women’s Day: a working class, socialist history, by Katherine Connelly
The Radical History of International Women’s Day and the Feminist Movement, with Liza Featherstone
The Signal is produced by Kevin Mahoney, Raging Chicken Media.
Music by Maf é Tulà and Cartas a Felice, "La Loca." Panela Music. 
Follow us on Twitter:
@BucksCoBeacon
@cmychalejko 
@RCpress